1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to radio paging systems and, more particularly, to a multi-mode paging system that selectively pages an individual through one of a plurality of paging mechanisms.
2. Description of Related Art
Many business establishments today utilize on-premises radio paging systems to locate employees or notify customers when service is available. For example, hospitals may page for doctors, and restaurants may page customers to notify them when their table is ready. In the context of the restaurant usage, a customer is typically greeted by a hostess who informs the customer that there is a waiting period for a table, and provides the customer with an on-premises pager. The pager has a control number associated with it, and the hostess enters the control number, either manually or electronically, into a pager controller. When the customer""s table is ready, the hostess inputs this information to the controller. The controller instructs a low power, on-premises transmitter to page the pager with the associated control number. The customer""s pager then notifies the customer through an audio, visual, or vibratory indication that the table is ready.
There are several disadvantages with the existing on-premises paging system. First, if the customer wanders too far away from the on-premises transmitter, the pager may not receive the page. Thus, the customer may miss the indication that his table is ready if he has to go to his car in the parking lot. Second, restaurants have a major problem with loss and breakage of the on-premises pagers. Some customers steal the pagers while others inadvertently leave with them after deciding among themselves that they do not want to wait for a table. Other pagers are damaged when they are dropped or otherwise mistreated by waiting customers.
There are no known prior art teachings of a solution to the aforementioned deficiency and shortcoming such as that disclosed herein. In order to overcome the disadvantage of existing on-premises paging systems, it would be advantageous to have a multi-mode paging system that selectively pages an individual through one of a plurality of paging mechanisms. Such a system would decrease the restaurant""s reliance on on-premises pagers, and would provide greater flexibility and roaming range to waiting customers. The present invention provides such a system.
In one aspect, the present invention is a multi-mode paging system that selectively pages an individual through one of a plurality of paging mechanisms. The system includes a first paging mechanism comprising an on-premises radio frequency (RF) transmitter for paging on-premises pagers, a second paging mechanism comprising means for dialing out a telephone call to wide area pagers or cellular telephones, and a control processor that selects an appropriate paging mechanism for each individual to be paged.
In another aspect, the present invention is a method of selectively paging an individual through one of a plurality of paging mechanisms. The method includes the steps of determining by a control processor, which of the plurality of paging mechanisms is to be utilized to page the individual, and paging the individual utilizing the determined paging mechanism.
In another aspect, the method begins by storing in a memory device, an indication of a paging mechanism for each individual to be paged. When an input is received from a user to page the individual, a control processor retrieves the indication of a paging mechanism for the individual to be paged and determines which of the plurality of paging mechanisms is to be utilized to page the individual. This is followed by paging the individual through an on-premises paging system upon determining that the on-premises paging system is to be utilized to page the individual, paging the individual through a wide area paging system upon determining that the wide area paging system is to be utilized to page the individual, and paging the individual through a cellular telephone upon determining that the cellular telephone is to be utilized to page the individual.